The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1887-12-15
WOMAN'S DEPARTMENT.
WOMAN's SPHERE.


4 sensible Article ON woman's Worth,
Her Work and Abilities
Women ought to accomplish the
duty of voting.
1t is an easy thing to teach, an easy
thing to learn selfishness, and call it
womanliness.
There are plenty to say or to hear
the saying, The world is Gods, not
thine; let Him work out change, if
change must be-" Take thine ease
under thine own vine and fig-tree.
Let the world rush on its way to sor-
row, to sin. to shame. What should
such fragile form as thine do to stop
or stay it?
Let gilded hclls be opened on all
sides to lure thy sons and thy neigh
bors' sons to gamble away their earn
ings, the support of home; to draw
them to arms that will embrace only to
poison, sending them back to innocent
and unconscious arms that will be
poisoned in turn; to put to the mouths
of the weak in will, the strong in APP
petite, that which will destroy body
and brain, reason and conscience,
home and happiness. heart and soul
together. What shouldst thou know
Of such matters? To know is to be
contaminated; keep thy ignorance. or
thy ostensiblc ignorance, and thy
womanly charm together.
Let government 60 to wrack. let
commerce and society conspirc to
accomplish evil let lives be blasted
and hearts be broken and souls be
damned. What are these to thee? Thy
sole duty is as violet, to smell sweet;
as flute, to sound fine harmonics.
And yet, sir, and yet, madam, God
created this woman, not flower. not
a flute, but living soul; as such to re-
ceive help and to yield help to all other
living souls; to it intrusted seed to SOW,
talents to multiply, work to be done.
By-and-by the Lord of the harvest will
say to it:
"I gave thee OF my seed to SOW:
Bringest thou me An hundred-foldi
And answer: Father, here is goldr"
Nay! Rather, she will respond
'sThis talent l multiplied not. was
afraid - afraid that multiplication
would bring weights to be carried,
and provoke envies and jealousies
fears within and cares without. Thi:
garden and this field ! plowed and
planted aud weeded not. The way
was rough and hurt my feet; the SUI
was hot and spoiled my beauty. Tt
be pleasing in mems eyes, to men'l
tastes or mems prejudices. to take my
ease, was more to me than to do the
work Of God.
0 my sisters, the world is groanine
and Travelling in pain until this day
crying out Of the darkness wherein i
gropcs, out Of the anguish in which i
writhes. for your hands and help ant
care! Where, then. are your woman
hearts and your woman's consciences
that you are silent and still?
Go to the asylums and hospitals, AM
make Of them homes. Go to the jails
the prisons. the penitentiaries, ant
make Of them reformatories and re
generators. Go to the ignorant, tn,
rude, the stupid. and see that the iigh
of intelligence is let into their night o
mental bondage.
Go to the doors through whicl
men 60 in men. and come out vii,
beasts; the doors that return, for tn
money there left. poverty, fghtings
dismantled homes, brawls. murders
that absorb men and money, and ii
exchange crowd alms-houses and jails
and ripen fruit for that CHASTITY tree 0
civilization, the gallows Standin,
there in behalf Of men, of women. o
children. of society, alike outraged
defied, dishonored, destroyed. say: I'll
the name of the law, and with tn
power Of the law. l stop this wholesal
poison and butchely."
Omen. my brothers, Of what are 70,
afraid? In just such measure as maj
does his duty to the world does h
grow in real manliness. In Just sucl
measure as q woman does her duty t
the world does she grow in rea
womanliness.